Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, CA, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2024 Oct 14;19(10):e0306910. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0306910. eCollection 2024.
Both scientists and laypeople have become increasingly concerned about smartphones, especially their associated digital media (e.g., email, news, gaming, and dating apps) and social media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat). Recent correlational research links substantial declines in Gen Z well-being to digital and social media use, yet other work suggests the effects are small and unnoteworthy. To help further disentangle correlation from causation, we conducted a preregistered 8-day experimental deprivation study with Gen Z individuals (N = 338). Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: (1) restrict digital media (i.e., smartphone) use, (2) restrict social media use, (3) restrict water use (active control), or (4) restrict nothing (measurement-only control). Relative to controls, participants restricting digital media reported a variety of benefits, including higher life satisfaction, mindfulness, autonomy, competence, and self-esteem, and reduced loneliness and stress. In contrast, those assigned to restrict social media reported relatively few benefits (increased mindfulness) and even some potential costs (increased negative emotion).
科学家和非专业人士都对智能手机越来越关注，特别是它们所关联的数字媒体（如电子邮件、新闻、游戏和约会应用程序）和社交媒体（如 Facebook、Instagram、Snapchat）。最近的相关研究表明，Z 世代幸福感的大幅下降与数字媒体和社交媒体的使用有关，但其他研究表明，这些影响很小，并不显著。为了帮助进一步厘清相关性和因果关系，我们对 Z 世代个体（N=338）进行了一项为期 8 天的预先注册的实验剥夺研究。参与者被随机分配到以下四种条件之一：（1）限制数字媒体（即智能手机）使用，（2）限制社交媒体使用，（3）限制水的使用（主动对照），或（4）不限制任何东西（仅测量对照）。与对照组相比，限制数字媒体使用的参与者报告了多种益处，包括更高的生活满意度、正念、自主性、能力和自尊，以及减少孤独感和压力。相比之下，那些被分配到限制社交媒体使用的参与者报告的益处相对较少（增加正念），甚至还有一些潜在的成本（增加负面情绪）。
